Showing results by narrator "Susan Calman" in All Categories

The News Quiz began on Radio 4 in 1977 and continues to be hugely popular to this day. The first host was Barry Norman, and subsequently Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, Miles Jupp, Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman have all take the chair. The show's guests have been drawn from the cream of British comedians, journalists and politicians: Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Ian Hislop, Peter Cook, Linda Smith, Jeremy Hardy, Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, William Hague, Boris Johnson, Edwina Currie, Matthew Parris and many more.

Presented by writer, comedian and self-confessed listomaniac Susan Calman, this hilarious show celebrates the power of the humble list—from 'Buzzfeed' to 'bucket' and everything in between. Accompanying Susan for a spot of comic categorising are a panel of special guests, including Lucy Porter, Joe Lycett, Richard Herring, Katherine Ryan, James Acaster, Miles Jupp, Lucy Beaumont, Nat Luurtsema, Alun Cochrane, Sarah Millican, Ricky Wilson, Roisin Conaty and Isy Suttie. Together, they participate in a variety of anarchic games themed around lists both magnificent and mundane.

Izzy and her friends are so excited about their school trip. They’re going camping and there’ll be marshmallows and no washing and everything. But then weird things start happening! There are howling sounds at night, and some sausages have gone missing, and it’s nearly a full moon…. But it’s when they see their new teacher’s hairy legs that they know! There’s a werewolf on the school trip and they’re all doomed!

Izzy and her friends have never liked school dinners. And they're getting worse. The dinner ladies are acting strangely. Lollipop man mentions there is a new head dinner who used to be here a long, long time ago and has returned. Izzy and friends wonder if she is the reason for the strange behaviour. They wonder why she has returned. They find out she was fired. They speculate as to why and decide she's a demon who's returned to do bad things. Because why wouldn't she be? Hilariously narrated by Susan Calman!

The first title in the brilliant series by Pamela Butchart. One day Izzy and her friends are surprised to find that their teacher, Miss Jones, is actually being nice to them. This is the woman who was caught secretly smiling when Maisie Miller fell off her chair. There can be only one conclusion: she's been taken over by aliens, and now she wants to make them all aliens, too! Hilariously narrated by Susan Calman.

The third title in the brilliant series by Pamela Butchart. Izzy and her friends have been plunged into more primary-school craziness. This time, they decide that their new head teacher is a vampire rat, based on his being slightly scary, having the blinds drawn in his office during the day and the fact he's banned garlic bread at lunchtimes. Now they just have to come up with a plan to vanquish him.... Hilariously narrated by Susan Calman!

In these 26 episodes, we turn the clock back to 2014 - the year when Scotland said 'no' to independence, Ukrainians ousted their pro-Russia president in the Maidan Revolution, and the European Space Agency's Philae probe made its historic first landing on a comet. Sandi Toksvig is in the chair for every show bar one, in which Susan Calman steps in as temporary host. Subjects on the table for the team include NHS pay, a badger crash, commuter train standards, Russian activities in Crimea, dietary health scares, passport delays and black cab strikes.

Ostensibly a quickfire quiz, The Guessing Game is really a show that pushes facts aside in favour of flights of fancy and rewards the funniest, luckiest and most bizarre guesses. The premise is simple: host Clive Anderson fires off a series of difficult and implausible questions, and awards points to the panellists for their outlandish answers. Included here are all 12 episodes of the witty, whimsical and wildly speculative show.

Comedian and broadcaster Susan Calman danced her way across our screens and into our hearts for 10 weeks on Strictly Come Dancing 2017, but how did this ability to find joy change her life? Susan Calman's enthusiasm at being on Strictly Come Dancing was an inspiration to all of us. Cheer Up Love, Susan's first book, had a clear aim: to help people understand depression. Sunny Side Up has a similarly clear path: to persuade people to be kinder to each other and spread more joy.

Susan Calman has some very strong opinions, and in her radio debut she expresses them with her trademark wit and charm. In series 1, she examines the current hot political topic of equal marriage, looks at the issues surrounding the death penalty from the perspective gained whilst working on death row, considers how best to deal with depression and evaluates what it means to be Scottish. In series 2 she explains why she has never been interested in having children, explores society’s obsession with appearance, discusses intellectual snobbery and asks what it is that makes us human.

Izzy loves all the stories the ancient Greeks told! She can’t wait to tell her friends about Icarus, who was a total numpty, and the Trojan Horse, which ended a war and wasn’t even real! So pull up a plinth and enjoy all the drama of the original Greek myths, as told by Pamela Butchart, in collaboration with the British Museum. Now with even more sandals! Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winner Pamela Butchart.

Four more extended episodes from the award-winning BBC Radio 4 series, specially compiled by producer Jon Naismith. The antidote to panel games returns with this 16th glorious collection, in which Jack Dee gives regular panelists Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden silly things to do. Joining them in this compilation are special guests Rob Brydon, Victoria Wood, Susan Calman and David Mitchell.

Susan Calman is the least relaxed person she knows. She has no downtime, no hobbies (unless you count dressing up your cats in silly outfits), and her idea of relaxation is to play Assassin's Creed, an hour into which she is in a murderous rage with sky-high blood pressure. Her wife had to threaten to divorce her to make her go on holiday, and she's been told by the same long-suffering wife that unless she finds a way to switch off, and soon, she's going to be unbearable. Susan decided her best bet was to try to immerse herself in the pursuits that her friends find relaxing.

The fifth title in the BRILLIANT series by Pamela Butchart. Hamlet could NEVER make his mind up about ANYTHING. And one time he actually went to school in just his pants and got sent home because he couldn't decide what to wear. When Izzy (star of The Spy Who Loved School Dinners) is asked to tell her friends some HILARIOUS and SCARY stories, she knows exactly where to look: Shakespeare, the king of SUPER dramatic stuff.

Izzy and friends are excited! The snow is falling fast, and they’re hoping they’ll all be sent home early. But then they hear weird noises in the playground and find a big footprint in the snow...and that’s when they know! There’s a yeti in the playground and it’s hungry! Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winner Pamela Butchart.

A collection of insightful interviews, documentaries and comedy that celebrates LGBTQ+ in Britain, publishing to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Izzy and her friends are shocked when they find their lollipop man has disappeared! Maisie thinks he’s gone to Rome, but if that’s true, why do they keep seeing a weird white wispy cloud around the school? And why do Izzy’s legs feel cold even though she’s got tights on? Could it be that the lollipop man is a phantom and he’s come to spook them all? Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winner Pamela Butchart.

After nine years, 28 series and over 220 episodes in the hot seat, Sandi Toksvig stepped down from The News Quiz at the end of Series 87. These two superlative series are her last hurrah - and our last chance to enjoy her unique blend of wit, warmth and intelligence, as she leads the panel in a whimsical review of the headlines. Jeremy Hardy and Susan Calman both take a turn in the chair, but for 12 of these 14 episodes, Sandi is at the helm as they take a wry look at the news in all its larger-than-life glory.

Izzy is really pleased to have been put in charge of the new girl at school. Matilde is French, and Izzy and her friends can't wait to show her their den and its moth, and to help her avoid school dinners (also known as poison). But Matilde LOVES school dinners and even has seconds! And that's when they know...Matilde is a spy, and she has come to find out their secrets. They must stop her before it's too late!

Award-winning jokesmith and self-confessed idiot Stephen K. Amos teams up with some of the world's sharpest comic minds to compile a dummies' guide to being a modern human. From raising children and having a mid-life crisis, to first impressions and facing your fears, who better than a bunch of comedians to lead us through life's existential maze?